TEST DRIVE MEME #10

[sailmods]

a. that's where we both belong

[you wake up.

it doesn't matter where you were before. going to bed? dying? opening the door to face a great evil? same result. you wake up in a soft bed with starched sheets in a cool, darkened room, sunlight peeking out from behind thick curtains. maybe you're alone; maybe you aren't. maybe you immediately notice the folded paper on the bedside table near your head. if you don't, you better fix that real quick: you won't be able to even open the door before you read it.

the note itself is written in a neat hand on white card stock; there is a stylized logo of a ship with the words SERENA ETERNA printed underneath. the note reads as follows:

Dear Passenger(s),

As your cruise director, it is my great honor to welcome you aboard the Serena Eterna, your destination for fun and adventure! We know you could have chosen any cruise line for your vacation, and we're very grateful you chose ours! On behalf of the Captain, I would like to assure each and every passenger that will we do whatever it takes to fulfill all your needs and desires during your journey with us.

At your earliest possible convenience, please attend the mandatory lifeboat drill by the end of the day. I'm sure everyone is very eager to get started on all the fun and sun, but safety always comes first! You can find your life jacket in your cabin's closet; carry it to your assigned muster station on deck one, where I will take you through the drill. If you can't find me in the crowd, just look for the gal with the winning smile!

See You Real Soon!

Sincerely,
Gal Friday

you walk to deck one. you have no other choice: every time you try to step in a direction some unseen being considers "not towards deck one," you find your legs no longer move, staying stock still, frozen. whether compelled quickly by curiosity, or delayed by pure stubbornness, the result is the same, and you are left milling around with other similarly curious or stubborn people.

you see someone in uniform near the front of the crowd. she seems to be a gal, but is missing the winning smile, along with most of her other features. she seems to see you, though, rushing to your side and placing a lei around your neck with great formality. a voice, cheery but artificial, sees to come from nowhere and everywhere.]

Welcome aboard! I'm so happy you could join us!

[you touch the lei. rooster feathers, lotus seeds, and a carved circle of something white and hard, linked onto a silk string.

after the drill is completed, you are seemingly free to go. or, well, your legs work, now. and maybe that's as good as it's gonna get.]

b. and there's plenty of that down by the sea

[it’s strange to think about, isn’t it? how all those new passengers, the ones grumbling or shouting their way through the forced muster drill, have absolutely no idea what happened just last month. no idea about the labyrinth. no concept of why anyone around them would be a bit more hesitant around shadows.

they’ll learn.

sometimes a shadow is darker than it’s supposed to be. very rarely does anything come of that; just a vague sense that someone is watching you, and little more. sometimes, though, the shadows move. sometimes they grab at your ankles as you walk. sometimes they give you a shove as you go down the stairs. sometimes they pull your hair, or pinch your arm.

sometimes you feel something sharp cut into your lower leg.

that’s not a shadow, though. that’s a fiddler crab. you see the crab, sometimes. the cut isn’t from its claws, which don’t look very intimating; it’s not a very large crab. the cut is from the large kitchen knife crudely taped onto its back. it’s probably fine. it's not chasing you. there isn't evil in its heart. probably.]

c. think I'll go back to the Keys

[one day, in the atrium, two pedestals suddenly appear. on each is a large button: one green, and one blue. pressing the blue button gives you a little treat, popping out of thin air next to you. pressing the green button sends a small electric shock through your body. weird, but, hey, pretty avoidable, right?

except, it seems to be spreading. to every other button on board.

in the elevator. on the soda machine. the arcade. your phone. the bell on Friday’s desk.]

Comments

2. Oh to turn and see her smile

[blacksludgeaffair]

Undine's exploration through the bowling alley and cheese shop is accompanied by a strange oddness. Glimpses of motion, particularly inky shadows, the feeling of being watched. Slowly, however, this eldritch stalker hides itself less and less, and she'll see more and more of the viscous black puddle behind her, never closer than fifteen feet away.

[treadwater]

Undine, finally recognizing that she's once again being stalked by an entity comprised of viscous dark liquid, finally stops in the entryway of the Tommy Bahama. "Don't come and closer or I'll transform and fight you! I am not going to be bullied by goop again!"

[blacksludgeaffair]

The ooze gurgles in place, two eyespots and a toothy maw bubbling to the surface so that it can choke out a few strained words.

"Frrriend Phil said... It was scary... When suddennn..."

[treadwater]

Look, goop talking to her isn't reassuring in the least. With a sparkling transformation sequence that leaves the floor around her wet, she becomes Alchemical Water, staring the dark puddle down coolly.

"Then don't make any sudden movements!"

[blacksludgeaffair]

It sloshes anxiously in place, the components of its face sinking and swimming and resurfacing.

"Iiit is called... Symbiote... It doesn't want... Fighting..."

[treadwater]

"Symbiote. Okay, then what do you want? You can't just keep creeping after me, that's really not cool."

She leans in over it as she speaks, hands on her hips like a disappointed parent. Not mad, just disappointed.

[blacksludgeaffair]

As she leans over it, it flattens itself to the floor. As if to flee from her, or to jump at her.

"Iiit looks for... Hosts... Parrrtners..."

[treadwater]

"Ummm...um, what do you mean by...by hosts?"

Clearly she's nowhere near at ease with that thought, taking a couple steps backwards and summoning a clear orb of water that bobs in the air above her hand.

[blacksludgeaffair]

"Iiit subsists... On adrenaline... Feeds on... Emotion..."

The puddle trembles, twists on itself, and suddenly in its place lies a black ribbon. A perfect ribbon, texture and all. And then again it melts into a puddle.

"It can be... Worn..."

[treadwater]

“Are you asking me to wear you around so you can feed on my emotions?” Look, she just wants to be sure they’re on the same page. “For how long? Is it permanent?”

[blacksludgeaffair]

"As long as... allowed..."

It almost looks excited, beneath her. It swims in a small loop, like a dog that can't contain its energy.

"It can make strong... in return..."

[treadwater]

"I'm already strong. I don't need to be made stronger. It's...not something I want, to have to get to be stronger."

There's a lot of complicated fucking emotions going on there, Venom. Sorry.

[blacksludgeaffair]

"Don't... Want...?"

The loop stalls for just a second, as if unsure.

"Iiit can... make webs..."

[treadwater]

"And I can make blorbles."

She crouches down toward the black goop.

"You've got to find something better to offer me."

[blacksludgeaffair]

The features of its face twist and drift around each other slowly. For a few quiet seconds, that's all it does. And then a word creaks out of it, like the yawn of an old house.

"Mmmemories..."

[treadwater]

“Memories? Like…your memories?” Okay, that one’s sort of tempting, because it’s unique. No one else can offer her that.

[blacksludgeaffair]

"Iiit can share... memories... Its own... Other hosts'..."

It burbles again at her response, but keep in one spot.

"Won't share... other passengers... Only... from before..."

[treadwater]

“Feels a little bit like reading someone’s diary, don’t you think?”

Her voice is soft and gentle. Oh Founder, is she about to try to teach morality to a symbiote?

[blacksludgeaffair]

It melts, slowly. A moment passes before it responds.

"That is... ssssecrets...?"

[treadwater]

“Not…secrets. But it’s private and more to the point, it’s not my business to know. They didn’t tell you that I could know it, or that you could just share it, right?”

[blacksludgeaffair]

"Prrrrivate... Private is... unfamiliar..."

It shrinks away, almost. The slightest pull away.

"Iiit is... learning..."

[treadwater]

"Private things are personal. Yours. Things you don't share with everyone else because it's not for them. If someone shared my thoughts with someone else, my memories, I'd be very upset."

She sloooowly reaches out, as if to...oh Founder, is she about to pet the puddle?

[blacksludgeaffair]

"Not sharing... Mmmine... It is... not used to mine... It is... not whole... Only when... We... Us..."

It goes remarkably still. Fleeing might startle. Reaching back might startle. Safest to do nothing.

[treadwater]

Undine’s touch is so very gentle, a fingertip only barely skimming the surface. And then she pulls back.

“I imagine that’s a pretty confusing sort of existence.” As she goes from squatting near it to sitting with a soft plop.

[blacksludgeaffair]

"It is... its only existence..."

It raises itself back up, no longer shrinking itself down. Safe now? It moves slowly, an inch at a time, between where it was was at her feet and where her hands- gentle, friendly? -rest. Caution receding, replaced by curiosity.

"Symbiote... Its purpose... is to bond... Find a host... Alone is... Unnatural..."